DUBAI // A car showroom owner and a driver forged ownership certificates for another man’s Ferrari and Mercedes and sold the cars for Dh450,000, a court heard on Tuesday.
The two Syrian expatriates are accused of forging two sale contracts, submitting the forged documents to Abu Dhabi traffic police and stealing the money from the sale of the cars. The showroom owner, 29, is also charged with issuing a bounced cheque to the cars’ legitimate owner, an Emirati engineer, 34.
The owner told prosecutors he gave the two cars to the showroom owner in July last year to sell in his showroom in Al Barsha.
“I worked in Abu Dhabi so I only came once a month to Dubai to check on the cars,” the engineer said.
When he noticed the cars were missing from the showroom, the owner told him they had been sold.
“A month later I asked about the money and he told me the buyer was still finalising the bank procedures,” he said.
He became suspicious, made inquiries and found the two had forged the contracts, sold the cars and kept the money.
“For some time I would call him and he wouldn’t pick up so I reported the matter to police,” said the Emirati.
The Syrian driver, 21, pleaded guilty at Dubai Criminal Court to forging the sale contracts and submitting them to traffic police, but he denied stealing the money.
The showroom owner was not present in court. The next hearing is on October 16.
salamir@thenational.ae
